Coronavirus - 7th April 2021

• Carer Elle Taylor, 24, from Ammanford in Wales is the first person to receive the Moderna vaccine in the UK
  
• The UK has ordered 17 million doses of Moderna - the third vaccine used
  
• European medicines regulator the EMA is to hold a briefing this afternoon on the AstraZeneca vaccine relating to cases of blood clots
  
• Health ministers from the 27 EU member nations are due to meet afterwards to discuss the findings
  
• UK regulator MHRA is also expected to give an update on its investigation
  
• A trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab on children in the UK is being paused
  
• Brazil records more than 4,000 Covid-related deaths in a days for first time
  
• Driving lessons can resume in England and Wales from Monday, the transport secretary says
  
• The US rules out a vaccination passport scheme for citizens
  

Headlines from across the UK

• The first doses of the Moderna vaccine are being given to patients in Wales as the third jab approved for use in the UK begins to be rolled out
  
• People diagnosed with Covid-19 in the previous six months are more likely to develop depression, dementia, psychosis and stroke, researchers say
  
• School staff have been giving clothing, food and furnishings to families who have been struggling financially in the coronavirus pandemic, a teaching union poll shows
  
• A trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine on children has stopped giving out jabs while the UK's medicines regulator investigates a possible link with rare blood clots in adults
  
• The government should create a food security minister to ensure progress made during the pandemic in helping to feed poverty-hit people continues after lockdown, according to MPs.
  

What the papers are saying

• The Guardian leads on quotes from the prime minister urging people to keep getting vaccines, despite a trial of the jab in children being put on hold.
  
• In the Times' view, any decision to limit the jab's use will not only be a big setback for the UK's vaccination programme, but also "seriously damage hopes that the world can bring the pandemic under control this year".
  
• The Daily Telegraph's front page features a suggestion from a member of the government's immunisation advisory committee that vaccines should be paused for people under the age of 50 until the safety of the Oxford jab can be fully established.
  
• The Sun's editorial pours scorn on Covid certificates - not, it says, because of concerns over the infringement of liberties, but because "by the time they are finally introduced they may be a pointless, disastrous waste of money".
  
• The Daily Mirror's leader urges ministers to provide evidence to back up why such widespread checks would be needed, to avoid the prospect of a backlash from the public.
  

Latest across Europe

• Hungary is reopening shops and resuming services this morning as Covid restrictions are eased, even though the hospitals are full and some 250 people are dying every day. Hungary has a relatively high vaccination rate so Prime Minister Viktor Orban says he feels a “moral imperative” to open up.
  
• Turkey has declared a record 49,584 new cases in the past 24 hours and another 211 deaths. It too is moving ahead fast with its vaccination campaign with more than 10 million people receiving a first dose.
  
• The EU’s medicines agency EMA is expected to update its advice later today on the safety of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of rare blood clots. The agency has consistently said benefits of the drug outweigh the risks.
  
• One of the favourites to replace Angela Merkel as Germany’s chancellor, Markus Söder, has backed a so-called “bridging lockdown” of two to three weeks until vaccinations help cut the rate of infection.The idea came from the leader of Merkel’s CDU party, Armin Laschet, even though he’s previously resisted calls for tougher measures. Infections in the past 24 hours are below 10,000, which is well down on a week ago. Germany’s network of family doctors has begun taking part in the vaccination campaign.
  
• An overnight curfew in Hanover in northern Germany has been lifted after a court declared it probably unlawful. The court said existing measures had not properly been enforced and a curfew should only be seen as a last resort.
  
• Two Italian police were hurt yesterday in scuffles during a Rome protest by traders and restaurant owners calling for a reopening of businesses. Extremist groups reportedly infiltrated the protest.
  
• Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has blamed the EU for the slow rollout of vaccinations. Italy blocked 250,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca doses last month but Morrison also says EU export controls have meant another 3.1 million doses are still to arrive. However, EU officials reportedly say it’s the drug’s producer and not them holding things up.
  

Today so far…

• The European Medicines Agency will give a briefing at 1600 CET (1500 GMT) on the safety of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and its possible links to blood clots. Yesterday it denied it had already established a causal connection between the vaccine and a rare blood clotting syndrome.
  
• The Castile and León region in Spain has suspended using AstraZeneca shots on people under 65 until it receives further clarification from the European Medicines Agency.
  
• The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK is also expected to issue an update.
  
• The UK meanwhile is beginning to rollout a third vaccine – the Moderna shot – in Wales today. 24 year old unpaid carer Elle Taylor got the first jab at the West Wales General Hospital in Carmarthen.
  
• Brazil’s coronavirus catastrophe has deepened further after more than 4,000 daily deaths were reported for the first time. “It’s a nuclear reactor that has set off a chain reaction and is out of control. It’s a biological Fukushima,” said Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian doctor and professor at Duke University in the US, who is closely tracking the virus.
  
• One in three people who were severely ill with coronavirus were subsequently diagnosed with a neurological or psychiatric condition within six months of infection, a US study has found.
  
• Poland is to extend its coronavirus restrictions until 18 April. Kindergartens, shopping centres, hotels, cinemas and theatres will remain closed. The health minister said that 90% of cases in Poland were the more infections B.1.1.7 variant.
  
• The B.1.1.7 variant has been detected for the first time in Thailand, where at least ten cabinet ministers and dozens of lawmakers are self-isolating today after coming into contact with positive coronavirus cases.
  
• Restrictions on exporting its Covid vaccines have left India’s Serum Institute needing financial help from the government, its CEO said. Without the higher prices charged for vaccines going out of the country, it says it is unable to invest in increasing production.
  
• It is World Health Day, and the director general of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has been hammering home on social media his message that global inequality has exacerbated the impact of the novel coronavirus, and that an inequitable distribution of vaccines could prolong the effects of the pandemic.
  

AstraZeneca jab concerns taken 'very seriously'

Possibility different jabs could be offered to certain age groups

Researchers find Covid link with neurological conditions

Brazil records more than 4,000 deaths in a single day

New York shows how Covid passports could work in the UK

Driving lessons to resume in England and Wales from Monday

When will I get the vaccine?

Brazilian crisis is a threat to the planet - doctor

White House rules out federal Covid passports

TV briefing on AstraZeneca jab and blood clots

Merkel backs short national lockdown for Germany

Latest developments ahead of AstraZeneca jab briefings

• EU health ministers are due to meet to discuss the findings of the European Medicines Agency's investigation this afternoon
  
• The announcements come after a trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on children in the UK was paused as a precautionary measure
  
• Unpaid carer Elle Taylor has become the first person in the UK to be vaccinated with the Moderna Covid vaccine as the rollout of the jab began in Wales
  
• Driving lessons can restart in England and Wales from 12 April, the transport secretary says, with tests due to resume 10 days later
  
• A Covid vaccine being manufactured in Scotland by biotech firm Valneva has reported a 90% immune response in early trials
  
• Brazil has recorded more than 4,000 Covid deaths in a 24-hour period for the first time as a more contagious variant fuels a surge in cases
  
• People diagnosed with Covid-19 in the previous six months are more likely to develop neurological and psychological conditions, researchers find
  

EU medicines agency will also update on safety of AstraZeneca jab

Benefits of AstraZeneca jab outweigh risks - EU regulator

79 cases of rare blood clots reported after Oxford jab, says MHRA chief

Further advice issued for groups over Oxford jab

• Pregnant women should continue to discuss with their doctor whether the benefit of having the vaccine outweigh the risks
  
• People with a history of blood disorders that increase the risk of blood clotting should only have the AstraZeneca jab where benefits outweigh potential risks
  
• People who experienced clots after their first dose should not receive the second jab
  

Van-Tam explains potential risks and benefits of the Oxford vaccine

At-a-glance: What did we learn from UK vaccine briefing?

• The benefits of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine continue to outweigh the risks for the "vast majority of people", according to the MHRA
  
• The risk of rare blood clots remains "extremely small", MHRA chief Dr June Raine said
  
• She said "the evidence is firming up" but the MHRA's review has concluded that "while it's a strong possibility, more work is needed to establish beyond all doubt that the vaccine has caused these side effects"
  
• The JCVI has advised that under-30s with no underlying health conditions should be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine where available
  
• Those who have received their first dose of the AZ jab should continue to be offered a second dose of the same jab
  
• Prof Van-Tam said the impact of the change on the timing of the UK's vaccine programme "should be zero or negligible"
  

Another 45 deaths recorded in the UK

'No time to think about vaccines in Brazil'

Re-cap: What happened today?

• Under-30s in the UK are to be offered an alternative vaccine to the AstraZeneca jab due to the evidence linking it to rare blood clots
  
• Meanwhile, the EU's medicines regulator says unusual blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine
  
• The UK has begun the rollout of its third coronavirus vaccine, the Moderna jab, in Wales and Scotland
  
• Loneliness during the lockdown in Britain has been much more intense in poorer, urban areas and places with a higher proportion of young people, according to the Office for National Statistics
  
• Driving lessons can restart in England and Wales on 12 April, the transport secretary has confirmed
  
• Brazil has recorded more than 4,000 Covid-related deaths in 24 hours for the first time, as a more contagious variant fuels a surge in cases
  
• Taiwan has accused Beijing of offering Chinese-made Covid vaccines to pressure Paraguay to sever ties with the island
  

Thanks for joining us

Today's live page was edited by James Clarke and George Bowden, and written by Doug Faulkner, Becky Morton, Jen Meierhans and Patrick Jackson.